'Harry Potter' Book With Daniel Radcliffe's 'First' Autograph Sold For Over $3,000

'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', signed by the cast and sold at auction for over $3000

Vectis

A hardback edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling, believed to contain Daniel Radcliffe's first autograph as the actor playing the boy wizard, sold recently in the U.K. for over $3,000 (£2,600).

The book was signed in North Yorkshire in 2000, during filming on the very first Harry Potter film. Radcliffe told the owner Verity Collins, who was an extra on the film, that she was the first person to ask for his signature.

The book was also signed by costars Rupert Grint (who played Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (who played Hermione Granger), Robbie Coltrane (who played Hagrid), Chris Rankin (who played Percy Weasley) and the film's director, Chris Columbus.

Photographs and autographs were not allowed on set, but Collins was allowed an exception—Columbus wrote in the book Believe in magic that Collins was going through chemotherapy to treat leukaemia at the time. Photographs, cast documents and an invitation to Leavesden Studios for a set tour were also sold alongside the book.

The book was auctioned by Vectis, and originally estimated to sell for $630. Kathy Taylor from Vectis told the BBC:

The seller, who now lives in the south, has great memories of her time on the film and the way the cast treated her during a difficult time while she was ill but her mum said recently it had been sitting in a drawer.

It became apparent when we promoted the sale on social media it was likely to have been signed on the first day of filming on what was the first Harry Potter film, with actor Chris Rankin, who played Percy Weasley, confirming he had signed the book as well."

According to the BBC, the buyer will also pay 25% commission, bringing the total selling price up to over $4,000 (£3,250).

Rare Harry Potter memorabilia has a history of selling for thousands of pounds. A new world record was set at Bonhams in November 2017, when a first edition copy of the first book sold for around $139,000 (£110,000), and an exclusive seventh copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard, a spin-off book, was sold by Sotheby’s for $3.98 million in 2007, benefiting J.K. Rowling’s children’s charity Lumos.